


I Won't Lose You Too

by DaniCarli



Series: ETNuary Challenge [22]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Action, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, CPR, Comfort/Angst, Crime Fighting, Crying, Demons, Drowning, ETNuary, F/M, Fear, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Heroism, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, I think I have a problem, Loss, Male-Female Friendship, Matt and Nikita still work for the Society Against Evil, Nikita is the one in trouble and Matt must save her, Partners in Crime, Post Season 4, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sad, Scared Matt, Scary, Sorry guys, Whump, a lot of Makita, both being very protective, did I already mention I love the friendship of Makita?, for once Matt isn't the damsel, haunting memories, season 3 people kicking ass, want to give both a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22365145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaniCarli/pseuds/DaniCarli
Summary: When a simple investigation for the SAE goes horribly wrong, Matt is faced with one of his worst fears when a friend is put in danger
Relationships: The Detective | Matthew Patrick & The Troublemaker | Nikita Dragun
Series: ETNuary Challenge [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1588867
Comments: 19
Kudos: 33





	I Won't Lose You Too

**Author's Note:**

> Day 22 of ETNuary: Matthew Patrick aka my favorite boy!
> 
> Warning: a few PTSD triggers and some language

Matt should be use to this by now.

Ever since Everlock, being in danger might as well be a regular trait for the former Detective. In one night, his life was endangered a grand total of _five_ times! 

The feeling of being locked up or threatened shouldn’t bother the guy anymore. But even after eleven months since setting foot in that hell town, it never gets old. The same feeling of terror and dread courses through his body as the demon holding him presses the knife way to close to his neck. As the resident smart guy, Matt’s desperately trying to find a way to get himself and Nikita out of this pickle they’re currently in.

It was just suppose to be a routine check for the Society Against Evil: Investigate a possible paranormal disturbance at a local YMCA, then report back; something easy and safe. Of course, nothing is ever that easy _or_ safe.

Right away, the two survivors-turned-SAE members came upon four demons doing some weird ritual near the deep end of the building’s pool. Whatever they were doing, it definitely wasn’t good. 

Matt wanted to contact the Society and wait for reinforcements before taking action. Nikita, on the other hand, wanted to jump in and take the demons down without even forming a plan. Before he could stop her, the younger woman pulled out her katana and made their presence known. Immediately, all bets were off and the two were doing battle against these monsters.

They each managed to take down a demon, thanks to months of combat training by Ryu. While scary, Matt was enjoying kicking some demon butt; he has definitely improved since the mission in Purgatory two months prior. At the same time, when this is over, Matt is really going to give Nikita an earful for her recklessness.

 _She should have known better!_ But of course, Matt does know the cause of of his partner’s behavior. 

Nikita wouldn’t talk about it, but Matt knew it had to do with a falling out between her and Bretman Rock.

The events in Purgatory had left the male beauty guru shaken and while Matt doesn’t know all the details, apparently Bretman “wanted space” from Nikita and returned home to Hawaii. Matt has sympathy for Nikita, but doesn’t blame Bretman after what happened. The two men even met to “clear the air about Rosanna” before Bretman left, so the older man sensed the trauma, anger, and sadness in the former Playboy.

Nikita would brush it off, but it’s obvious she’s taking it hard and it showed when they went on this mission. The former Troublemaker was showing no mercy to the demons that got in her way. Despite putting up a good fight, Matt’s gut feeling that things were going to go wrong proved to be correct. 

As the theorist was fighting one of the two remaining demons, he heard Nikita scream. His fear for his partner took over and he turned to check on her. It only distracted him for two seconds, but it would be the two seconds that he would regret. Before he knew it, Matt was grabbed from behind and his body was slammed on the hard pool floor.

The impact put him in a daze, unable to retaliate before the demon that attacked him grabbed him by the neck. The theorist freaked out, the pressure triggering familiar traumatic memories as he gasped and squirmed beneath the grasp.

Matt remembered the way the Strong Man grabbed him, dragging him away from his friends before being thrown to the ground, beaten, and murdered. It has barely been a year and he still wasn’t over it. Through the panic and the tears in his eyes, Matt was able to make out a knife inches from his face. He heard Nikita shout out to him, but it was over. 

All it took was a threat on his life to get the beauty guru to stand down and surrender her weapon. They were screwed.

Now here they are by the poolside, Matt on his knees, held at knifepoint by one of the demons. The other remaining demon, the leader, is taunting Nikita, who has her hands bound behind her and positioned at the edge of the deep end.

Nikita is obviously furious, and Matt knows that some of it is directed towards him. He will take some blame for getting distracted and putting them in their current situation, but it’s not all his fault. Little Miss Bad Bitch is the one that decided to confront these demons without a plan and now look where they are?

“I’m going to ask you again, bitch!” The demon interrogating Nikita snarls. “How much does your little group know about us?”

Nikita, despite her predicament, glares daggers into her captor. “Really sweetie? That’s the dumbest fucking question I’ve ever heard! Why else do you think we’re here?”

Matt’s able to get out little chuckle before the knife against his throat pushes into his skin, silencing him. _Of course, even when tied up, Nikita is still sassy and bold!_

The demon whips his head around and makes his way to the theorist. “You think that’s funny, punk?”

Matt knows he shouldn’t intimidate a _demon_ of all things. He was taught that these kind of demons were the most dangerous monsters to encounter; far more dangerous than the Carnival Master. Yet, he and Nikita need to buy enough time for Society members to appear and help them.

“I think it’s hilarious!” Matt responds, careful not to move in a way that will nick himself against the blade. “Nikita, here, is a firm believer in dumb questions _and_ dumb people! In my line of work, I don’t believe in dumb questions, but I’m the _nerd_ of our duo. Honestly, you had to know who you were talking to, buddy. So, I guess that makes _you_ really dumb.”

Behind the demon, Nikita smirks as she struggles against the ropes binding her. At least she knows by now how much of a smartass Matt can be. It’s a trait they both have in common, which is good, but also bad. Sometimes running their mouths tend to get them in trouble.

“Is that so?” The demon says, a smooth sinister tone in his voice. He nods his head at the demon holding the knife to Matt’s throat, who removes it and steps away. Before the theorist can wonder why, he is met by a fist to his face.

Matt cries out as he falls on his stomach, his world spinning, blood filling his mouth. He can’t compose himself in time before the demon grabs him by the hair and punches him in the stomach, making the young man gasp for air. The demon with the knife stands by, enjoying the show.

“You want to rethink your words, _buddy_?” the demon leader asks in a condescending tone. He is met by blood in his face when Matt spits at him. This earns the theorist another punch to the gut. It hurts a lot, but Matt is use to to this. _As long as I take his attention away from Nikita! Better me than her, right?_

In front of them, Matt can hear Nikita shouting and cursing at the demon to stop. 

“ _Touch_ him again, you bitch,” the beauty guru snarls like the beast that fits her name, “and I will _skin_ you alive and wear your flesh as a dress, I swear to God!”

The demon stops, his hand still gripping Matt’s collar. He stares at the raging beauty guru, surprised by her vivid threat.

“Quite aggressive, don’t you think?” he sarcastically asks Nikita. It doesn’t surprise Matt. Nikita has always been protective of the people she cares about. He’s lucky enough to be one of them.

“What did you expect? Her last name is _Dragun_ for a reason!” Matt responds, trying to get the demon’s attention away from Nikita again. He turns to his partner. “It’s not a big deal, Nikita. In case you’ve forgotten, I was _literally_ beaten to death by a strong man with a mutant demon arm. Compared to that, this bozo here hits like my nine-month-old son!”

The demon looks back at him, Matt knowing the demon might actually kill him this time. But by the looks of it, Nikita appears to be getting loose from her restraints so if Matt can keep the demons distracted long enough, she can get free and they’ll take them down. Nikita looks at her partner, signaling she’s almost there.

_Here we go!_

“Actually, I take that back,” Matt continues, glaring into the demon’s endless black eyes. “My _baby_ hits harder than you do!”

“And so do I, bitch!” Nikita roars as she finally breaks from her restraints and launches herself at the demon leader, her small pocket knife in her hand. 

From their combat training, Ryu basically branded into their minds that they must _always_ keep a knife hidden somewhere on their person in case of situations like these.

As the beauty guru tackles the demon leader to the ground, Matt uses that opportunity to attack the demon with the knife, who got distracted by the scuffle. He grabs the hand that holds the knife and maneuvers it towards the demon’s heart. The demon howls as blade meets flesh, incapacitating it in time for Matt to grab his own small knife (hidden within the belt area of his pants) and kill the demon. 

The demon convulses before slumping to the ground dead. Pulling his knife out, Matt turns to go assist Nikita, only to be met with a horrifying sight.

The beauty guru really put up a fight against the demon leader, but is in a losing battle. The demon clutches her knife hand, his other arm holding her in a chokehold by the edge of the pool. Nikita struggles with all her might, but is losing consciousness as the demon squeezes her throat tighter. A second later, the beauty guru goes limp. 

Panicking, Matt charges forward and sinks his knife into the demon’s back towards his heart. The demon screams in pain as he lets Nikita go. Matt holds onto the demon as he twists the knife, the same rage he felt when he killed the demon dog. The demon leader convulses, like his buddy, before hitting the pool’s pavement, dead as well. 

Before Matt can even bask in his victory, his heart nearly stops at the next thing he sees. Floating in the pool is Nikita. The woman is floating face-down and she’s not moving on her own! 

“Nikita!” Matt screams, dropping his knife, and diving into the pool without hesitation. He doesn’t care that he’s still wearing his SAE jacket or even his shoes. All Matt knows is he has to rescue his friend before she drowns.

Matt swims his way over to Nikita, moving his body as fast as he can. He manages to grab her around the waist and turn her over so that she’s facing up. Her eyes are closed and if it weren’t for the fact that her face is a drained bluish color, one would think she’s asleep. 

With all his strength, Matt pulls the unconscious girl to the shallow end where the steps are located. He then lifts her up in his arms and quickly carries her out.

_Please still be alive!_

As Matt lays Nikita down on the pool deck, he quickly checks for breathing, remembering his CPR training when he last took his certification. To his dread, Nikita isn’t moving, no sign of rising in her chest. She’s not breathing!

_Don’t panic, MatPat! Remember your training!_

Matt tries to remain calm as he begins chest compressions against Nikita’s chest, a race to save her life. He may be skipping a few important steps in CPR training, but he doesn’t care about details right now. Plus where he’s suppose to be doing the compressions, Nikita will no doubt slap him later. And he’s okay with that.

“Come on, Nikita, don’t do this to me!” Matt pleads as he presses down on her chest with all his might, trying to make sure he doesn’t break anything in the process. “Please, breathe for me, please!”

Once he’s reached thirty compressions, Matt tilts her head back and gives her two rescue breaths, breathing life into her. He could make a joke about this, but his mind is in rescue zone to make sure Nikita doesn’t die.

When there’s no response, Matt starts chest compressions again, repeating the cycle.

“Nikita,” he snaps at the unconscious beauty guru. “You better fight this! Come on, you have to fight!”

After three cycles, Matt begins to feel the exhaustion, his arms hurting. He refuses to give up. 

“You said it yourself, darling,” he reminds her, “you’re bad bitch who can’t be killed! You _better_ not have lied to me! Wake up, dammit!”

Giving two more rescue breaths, nothing still happens. Tears start to appear again in Matt’s eyes, the sinking reality that Nikita may not wake up all.

 _No!_ the theorist screams at himself as he fuels his energy into saving the younger woman. _I’m not losing her too! Not after everything we’ve been through!_

Images of Jc, Safiya, and Rosanna flash through Matt’s mind. People he loved very much, people who trusted him, people he failed to save. He let so many people down and the pain of losing them haunts him everyday. He could include Colleen, although she’s alive again and the two are closer than ever; she too trusted him to save her and he failed. No matter what he does, he can’t save anyone. 

_Well that ends today because I’m not losing Nikita too!_ Matt’s mind screams, his whole body shaking with determination. _She may make me want to tear my hair out, but she’s a survivor, she’s my partner, and she’s my friend! She’s going to live because what do we say to the God of Death?_ Not today _!_

That internal fire within Matt goes into his next rescue breath. As soon as he breathes into Nikita’s lungs, the beauty guru coughs, sputtering up water, her body jerking in response.

Matt cries out in joy as he quickly rolls Nikita to her side so that she doesn’t choke. He keeps her there, patting her back, as she coughs up more water. 

“It’s okay! You’re okay!” Matt reassures her as he tries to calm himself down, tears still falling down his face, a smile of relief that Nikita’s conscious.

Once she has managed to get all the pool water out of her system, Nikita pushes herself up, taking in fresh oxygen, her face a state of traumatic confusion. She stares at the bodies of the two dead demons, then at Matt, and finally looking down at her soaking wet figure.

“What the fuck just happened? Why am I all wet?” Nikita demands. She reaches up and touches her soaking blonde wig. “My wig is ruined, this cost a fortune!” She then shoots a look at the theorist, a mix between disgust and humor. “Bitch, were you just _making out_ with me?”

 _Are you kidding me?_ Matt relief changes to annoyance, as well as some anger. “I was giving you CPR, Nikita! You were drowning and I just saved your life!”

Nikita is silent, comprehending what occurred. All she does is smirk as she looks back at the demons. “Well, at least those bitches got what they deserved. All in all, I say that went well.”

The fact Nikita is playing everything off is too much for Matt. It makes him snap. “This isn’t funny, Nikita, you almost _died_!”

“Girl,” Nikita attempts to gloat, “I’m a bad bitch, you can’t-”

“STOP IT!” Matt screams, his voice creating a loud booming echo in the entire pool arena. This silences the beauty guru, her smugness turning to shock at his outburst.

Matt knows he shouldn’t be angry, but a moment ago, he thought someone he cared about was going to die. He was so scared and Nikita’s over here acting like she’s invincible and doesn’t need saving. For once, why can’t she take this seriously and realize what her actions do to the people around her?

Matt looks down, the normal tick of him combing his hand through his hair acting up again. A lot has just happened and he’s so overwhelmed.

“You really scared me, Nikita,” he tells her, more tears falling down his face. “I thought I failed you _too_!” Matt knows he looks stupid, crying like this, but he doesn’t care. He has always been the guy to feel a lot, to show his emotions. Aside from his death and being attacked by zombies, this moment is the most scared Matt has ever been.

Next to him, Nikita sighs. Matt braces himself, ready to hear her “get over it, move on” spiel. Instead, Matt hears sniffles, followed by hiccuping gasps. The theorist looks up, and to his surprise, Nikita is crying too. 

“Nikita?” Matt now feels bad, thinking he just upset her. She after all just went through something terrifying. Carefully, he reaches out to comfort her, even though he knows she’s not the touchy-feel type. “Nikita, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, I-”

Nikita cuts him off, throwing her arms around the theorist, clinging to him as if he were a life-raft.  


“Thank you!” she sobs into his wet jacket, refusing to let go.

Matt’s caught off guard by this reaction. The last time Nikita was like this was when she killed Manny, and he was there to comfort her as well. This time isn’t different.

The older man wraps his arms around the younger woman in a protective manner, comforting her as she cried. Matt won’t judge her, he could never judge her. Nikita experienced for the first time what it was like to die. Technically, she was dead for a moment. Even a strong, badass woman like her would reduce to such vulnerability after going through something like that. Matt knows the feeling all to well.

“It’s going to be okay, Nikita, you’re safe now,” Matt tells her as he soothes her. He knows the beauty guru is going to play it off later and go back to being the tough bitch that she is; and he’s okay with that. What’s important to Matt is that she’s still alive to do it. 

“For the record,” Nikita whispers to him through her sniffling. “You’ve _never_ failed me! Don’t you dare forget that!”

Matt nods, touched that she would admit that to him. “Thanks.”

“You also know I’m totally gonna blame this whole fuck-up on you, hon, correct?” Nikita adds, her normal self starting to come back.

Matt sighs, a small laugh coming through knowing their little moment is over. “Yeah, we’ll _see_ about that!”

And with that, everything’s okay again.

**Author's Note:**

> I love the friendship of Makita. I know this story was sappy as hell, but come on, I'm all for bringing out vulnerability and caring! I just wanted to give Matt a win for once!


End file.
